Skip to main content

The Girl On The Train review: Parineeti Chopra starrer loses track

The Girl On The Train review: This weekend, I watched the Netflix thriller 'The Girl On The Train'. Directed by Ribhu Dasgupta, the Parineeti Chopra starrer has been inpsired by the best selling Paula Hawkins novel with the same title. But I have not read the book. However, I found Parineeti Chopra's portrayal of the protagonist quite intriguing in terms of her performance. But the film? Well....


                        

Overall, the film is a complete let-down in terms of how it structures the story plotting and rolls out weakly structured characters that are wasted on Parineeti Chopra and Aditi Rao Hydari. Sloppy direction has wrecked the Bollywood version of 'The Girl On The Train'.

The Girl On The Train review: What's disappointing?

Racing across a gamut of turbulent emotions and situations such as infidelity, betrayal, blackmail and a police investigation, The Girl On The Train fails to convince the audience 'what is really going on'. 

Putting up an outstanding 'dark' performance, Parineeti Chopra - as Mira Kapoor - portrays the inner turmoil of a successful lawyer who loses everything at one go and finds her life spiralling out of her control. However, the storyline and its stereotyping adds nothing to complement her efforts of bring the film's narrative to life. 

Fleeting glimpses of the lovely and luminous Aditi Rao Hydari brings a silver lining of hope to the narrative. However, the disturbed character she tries to portray suffers from lack of depth and the weak narrative lets her down. A weakly structured character cannot rise to the occasion no matter how well she performs in the role.

In the film, characterisation is weak, so are the dialogues and the situations that keep evolving and throwing the whole story off track. Women are shown to be at the mercy of manipulative men who want to cheat them. 

'The Girl On The Train' could have offered a brilliant take on several contemporary issues by threading them together as it makes an attempt to show today's young Indians are forced to tackle - alchoholism, mental illness, gas lighting, etc. 

How far has it steered itself away from the bestselling English novel - only readers can pass the verdict as I haven't watched it.

But this film gives up totally on itself with several loopholes in its narratives, weak characterisation and screenplay and sloppy direction. That's the tragedy.

Comments

dee Nambiar said…
The movie didn't meet my expectations. The book was better.

Most Popular Posts

The Ugly Truth about Caste in Kerala

Many years ago, when I wrote this post on Kerala's caste system, I had not considered that people would start sending in abusive comments about one caste over the other. It baffles me that this is how Indians, all of us, continue to judge each other on account of caste differences.  [ READ: Guru Kripa: Powerful Lessons at the Lotus Feet ] My question is - why do you ABUSE any caste or community? I suggest that you read about the lives of great Masters and their stories - none of them judged anyone on the basis of caste.  You can read the life stories of Sri Adi Shankara Bhagawadpada, Tulsidas, Jnaneshwar, Namadev, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, Shirdi Sai Baba, and many more Gurus in Sanathana Dharma. NONE of them endorse these caste hierarchies in Bhakti Marga. Assuming that Guru Sampradaya does not appeal to your sensibilities, do read this  new book 'Ants among Elephants' written by Sujatha Gidla, who writes about herself as being born

Book Review: Nan Umrigar's Sounds of Silence, A Bridge Across Two Worlds

The year 1978 was a glorious one for Karl Umrigar – a young man who won many prestigious horse races, including the Indian 2000 Guineas and the Indian Oakes. Finally, Karl Umrigar fulfilled his dream – every jockey’s dream   – to win the Indian Derby. His name remains in the Indian Derby scroll of honour. [READ: Aarti Raheja: Where One is Not a Number and But just at exactly the moment Karl won, he fell from the horse.  A fall that finally saw the country mourn for him when the headlines of the Indian Express read, “The King is Dead.” Karl Umrigar, the young champion and loved by many, was laid to rest on May 3, 1979. Karl Umrigar’s Death: Bridge between Two Worlds You can imagine what Karl’s death did to his family, particularly his mother – Nan Umrigar. She says, “ Nothing could have prepared us for the darkness that descended upon us – nothing! ” While her family tried to pull on with daily routine, Nan Umrigar found herself in such a state of agony and trauma th

What is the story of Shivaji? The great son of a great mother called Jijabai

Chhatrapati Shivaji, the great Maratha warrior whose guerrilla warfare tactics are fleetingly mentioned in Indian history textbooks, is increasingly relevant today. A Hindi movie 'Tanhaji' starring Ajay Devgn and Kajol got many of us curious to know more about this warrior. Sadly, we don't seem to have much information in our history textbooks!   [ READ: Significance of Surya Argya  and How do you Light Deepam? ] Source: Anjali Natarajan on Twitter  Shivaji Maharaj: The Great Son of a Great Mother Jijabai The more I read about Shivaji Maharaj,   the more fascinated I am.   I wondered why we have learned so little about this great warrior and his great mother Jijabai, and why public memory has been totally erased from most history books! As a mother, I have always been fascinated by how some of India's greatest and most revered men and women are individuals who were deeply influenced at an early age by their mothers. Bharat is a country that belongs to great mothers who

Happiness is like Mysore Pak

Wondering what is happiness? Here's a question: How happy are you? From January 2024, it seems as though everyone's on a rollercoaster ride. I've talked to so many people, Nearly all responses were on similar lines: "There's so much change happening in my personal and professional lines; it's crazy!!!! My whole life is changing so fast I can't keep up...." Have you been feeling the same way too? S tay assured you aren't alone. People experience or pursue happiness in different ways. Some find happiness in hurting and criticising others - they make it their life's mission! Others believe that name, fame and positions of power bring them happiness. There may also be intellectual geniuses and activists who can demonstrate excellence in how they present their findings and arguments most convincingly yet they too have their inner demons to tackle. We are often chained and bound by the beliefs we bombard our lives with. [Read: Can We Stop Being Jud

Movie Review: Fahad Fazil & Amala Paul Sizzle Together in Oru Indian Pranayakatha

It was a pleasure to watch Sathyan Anthikad's latest film "Oru Indian Pranayakadha" which marked the veteran director's clear departure from his signature style films.  [ Confession: I never miss a Fahadh Fazil movie. I am a HUGE fan of his right from Chappa Kurishu. ]  Of course, there are several other actors who play their part very well in this film but you should go watch the movie to enjoy it better. I don't want to spill the entire story here. Right from the first scene, brace yourself to be bowled over by Aimanam Siddharthan, a young upcoming politician who leaves no stone unturned in his path to become an MLA. He charts out his every move to win the hearts of the people, gain visibility with the 'High Command' and extract political mileage out of every public appearance he makes. You get the feeling that he likes to have every move charted out in advance and planned in a way that reaps political dividends for his growth as a politic